Collective violence : a study of the gendered and socio-economic factors behind early modern Italian and English witch hunts

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Abstract

In this study, I build upon my previous research in which I focus on religious doctrine as
a gendered disciplinary apparatus, and examine the witch trials in early modem England
and Italy in light of socio-economic issues relating to gender and class. This project
examines the witch hunts/trials and early modem visual representations of witches, and
what I suggest is an attempt to create docile bodies out of members of society who are
deemed unruly, problematic and otherwise 'undesirable'; it is the witch's body that is
deemed counternormative. This study demonstrates that it is neighbours and other
acquaintances of accused witches that take on the role of the invisible guard of
Bantham's Panoptic on. As someone who is trained in the study of English literature and
literary theory, my approach is one that is informed by this methodology. It is my
specialization in early modem British literature that first exposed me to witch-hunting
manuals and tales of the supernatural, and it is for this reason that my research
commences with a study of representations of witches and witchcraft in early modem
England. From my initial exposure to such materials I proceed to examine the
similarities and the differences of the cultural significance of the supernatural vis-a.-vis
women's activities in early modem Italy. The subsequent discussion of visual
representations of witches involves a predominance of Germanic artists, as the seminal
work on the discernment of witches and the application of punishment known as the
Malleus Meleficarum, was written in Germany circa 1486.
Textual accounts of witch trials such as: "A Pitiless Mother (1616)," "The
Wonderful Discovery of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Philippa Flower (1619),"
"Magic and Poison: The Trial ofChiaretta and Fedele (circa 1550)", and the "The Case of Benvegnuda Pincinella: Medicine Woman or Witch (1518),"and witchhunting
manuals such as the Malleus Melejicarum and Strix will be put in direct dialogue with
visual representations of witches in light of historical discourses pertaining to gender
performance and gendered expectations. Issues relating to class will be examined as they
pertain to the material conditions of presumed witches.
The dominant group in any temporal or geographic location possesses the tools of
representation. Therefore, it is not surprising that the physical characteristics, sexual
habits and social material conditions that are attributed to suspected witches are attributes
that can be deemed deviant by the ruling class. The research will juxtapose the social
material conditions of suspected witches with the guilt, anxiety, and projection of fear
that the dominant groups experienced in light of the changing economic landscape of the
Renaissance. The shift from feudalism to primitive accumulation, and capitalism saw a
rise in people living in poverty and therefore an increased dependence upon the good will
of others. I will discuss the social material conditions of accused witches as informed by
what Robyn Wiegman terms a "minoritizing discourse" (210). People of higher economic
standing often blamed their social, medical, and/or economic difficulties on the less
fortunate, resulting in accusations of witchcraft.